The NHL Merchandise Department Does Not Know What Women Want

The NHL may think it knows its female fanbase, merchandise needs and wants.

Really, they have no idea.

What could possess the NHL to come out with abominations that the majority of female hockey fans would never wear? Furthermore, what kind of message does this send to the females that make up a good chunk of the league’s fanbase?

Pittsburgh Penguins featured columnists Alison Myers and Laura Falcon examine how the NHL can better target the ladies and describe the problems with their current product offerings.

Alison Myers:

Argument: The NHL is going over the top while ignoring a fairly important segment of their female fan base: The girls not blessed with an “America’s Next Top Model” type figure.

The Evidence:

Every year, it seems like NHL merchandise for females reaches new lows.

Pink, glittery jerseys. Team bikinis. Strapless tops that barely show the team logo, unless you know to look in the bottom left corner for it. $300 bedazzled purses.

This year, the NHL outdid itself in the worst of the worst.

They unveiled their new “champagne jersey.” It has crystal studs along the v-neck collar and has the team logo printed on the chest in “distressed champagne foil” (whatever that means, anyway). It also has the team’s name on the back of the jersey in script and even has a drawstring cinch so it accentuates your figure.

Oh boy. I'd better put it on my Christmas list right now.

Scratch that.

I'd rather get new socks and a year's worth of bubblegum in my stocking.

I remember when women’s jerseys were, well, regular jerseys. One of my friends, a fellow Penguins fan, has a standard women’s cut jersey. It is just like a regular Penguins home jersey, except it is scaled down and more fitted for a female figure. That’s it. No sparkles, no pink font; just a plain old Penguins jersey.

Thankfully, I don’t see many female hockey fans wearing this stuff when I show up at a game. But on the rare occasion I spot a girl in one of those awful, unnecessarily fancy jerseys that are not even made in team colors, the first thing that comes to my mind is “puckbunny.”

Some girls who like to wear the cute merchandise try to argue that they aren’t a puckbunny. They claim they know their statistics better than most guys. They know all the rules of the game.

A girl may very well know everything about hockey. But when she shows up to a game in an “Ice Flirt” jersey, she is just begging to not be taken seriously. Instead, she will likely be looked at as a silly broad who is tagging along to a game with her boyfriend and is more concerned about looking cute than she is about the on-ice product.

I also noticed the NHL’s definitions of women’s sizing are pretty off. Since when is a size large considered sizes eight to 10? Further, if I am looking for sweatpants in an extra large, I won’t be able to wear them when the NHL considers that to be a size 10-12. That is not considered an extra large in any store I shop in.

But then again, this is the NHL. They probably think all women shopping for their merchandise look like Alyssa Milano.

Another issue for me is the lack of plus sized merchandise for females. When looking for Penguins merchandise in plus sizes, I notice there are three shirts I can pick from. Meanwhile, smaller women have about eight pages worth of merchandise options.

Since when does being plus sized mean that I can’t look cute?

I am not asking to wear one of the team bikinis the NHL made last year, but is it so much to ask that all of the women’s clothes be available for women of all sizes? This may sound strange, but the NHL could actually make money from that.

In my mind, the NHL is missing out on some key audiences with their female merchandise. They need to better understand what women want and make a wide range of merchandise that will work for everyone.

 

Laura Falcon

Argument: If being beautiful is more important than supporting your team, hockey is not the place for you.

The Evidence:

I remember my first experience with the online NHL Shop.

I ordered Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin (yes, you read correctly) jersey tee shirts in the smallest size from the women’s sections of both team pages.

Days later, I held the two shirts in my hands, feeling puzzled over the glitter that bonded itself to the numbers eight and 87 on the back as well as the logos on the front.

My first thought was, “Glitter on an NHL product. What an oxymoron.”

This trend of girl-ifying sports paraphernalia has spread like a virus as of late, but moreso in the NHL than in any other professional sports league in North America.

I have tried to understand where the NHL has been going with this rolling trend: The bikinis, the earrings, the purses, the pink jerseys, and now, the champagne jerseys.

To a point, I do see the thought process.

The NHL wants the logos of its teams everywhere.

This is fair from both a marketing and fan perspective in some cases like the purses and earrings. These are every day objects with a logo on the front.

However, I draw the line when the image of the NHL is tainted, and not just by the color pink.

With the distortion of a team’s colors and overall design for the sake of having more pizazz and shimmer, it seems to me that these outfits are no longer meant to be an outright sign of support for ones team, but rather, a fashion statement.

Not long ago, I was browsing YouTube and came across a video of a teenage girl wearing a baby pink New York Yankees cap. She made it a point to say that no, she wasn’t a Yankees fan, but she liked the hat because it was pink with rhinestones on the NY symbol.

Is this what the NHL wants to breed?

Not to get too girly, but I see these champagne jerseys the same way I do make up: Make up is not meant to be a cover up or something that needs to overpower a girl’s face. It’s meant to enhance and make a woman’s face more beautiful.

NHL jerseys, at their simplest, are an enhancement of support and pride for one’s team. When the NHL decides to add glitz and glam, not only does it overpower the main purpose of supporting the team, but it’s screaming “Look at me!” in a way that is fake instead of natural.

Sports jerseys are a beautiful thing, regardless of the team logo on the front or the name on the back. They don’t need to be adorned with rhinestones and sheer fabric to look better than they already are.

When fans gather for sporting events, especially anything hockey related, it shouldn’t be a time to worry about how cute you look and whether the colors of the jersey match your skin tone. It’s the time for grabbing a cold glass of beer, hot nachos, fresh pizza, and a group of friends with fun and obnoxious attitudes to enjoy the wonderfully pure hours of sports entertainment.

If the NHL cannot see that there are girls like Alison and I who love hockey the way it was given to us, simple, manly, and messy, then a monstrous reality check is in order.

There are plenty of girls who feel this way, but according to the NHL, the ones worth the money are the ones who can’t appreciate the purity of a hockey uniform.

Is that the kind of female fan the NHL wants on board?

So far, the answer seems to be, “We don’t care as long as you spend money on anything with the NHL logo on it.”

It’s desperation at its finest.

The only thing uglier than an organization desperate to sell its logo is a shimmery, sheer hockey jersey, with rhinestones that perfectly match the wearer’s complexion.